Progressive Engineering, Birmingham

Virusman26 · Mar 24, 2008

Hey guys. After much looking from afar at this place, I finally had a go.

From what I can gather, this place was most recently used(or part of it) as a tool maker for my trade. I recognise the name, and may have dealt with the company in the past, so there is a bit of a connection to this place for me.

It was only a reccy, but I couldn't resist a quick look, until i have more time, and equipment with me. The quality of the pics reflects the poor weather, and my wanting to be in and out pretty quick.

Cheers for looking

reddwarf9 · Mar 24, 2008

Looks a neat building, and no pikey activity yet!! Any machinery left that you saw?

carew · Mar 24, 2008

amazing building. I think i know were it is.

Virusman26 · Mar 24, 2008

Nothing I could see, but then I didn't see much of it, only a couple of ground floor rooms. There are a few floors, and of recent years, they've been split into numerous companies. May not turn out to be all that interesting, but the building itself just oozes Victorian engineering!!!!!!

MD · Mar 24, 2008

nice too see it before it gets knocked down
to make way for more boxes

or should i say
cheap affordable housing that no one seems to be buying at the moment! :lol:

any idea how old the place is?

reddwarf9 · Mar 24, 2008

mattdonut said:
any idea how old the place is?

Looks similar age and style to shoe factories we had all over our town till china knicked all the work, that would make it late 19th or early 20th century, probably late 1800's

MD · Mar 24, 2008

i remember them in kettering i worked at griggs for a bit.
and what a dump it was!!

reddwarf9 · Mar 24, 2008

mattdonut said:
i remember them in kettering i worked at griggs for a bit.
and what a dump it was!!

Ye most of them were, i supplied and installed/moved machinery in them, was a nightmare in some of those old places, which factory? St Peters Ave? Still a shame to lose all them jobs to China, my grandfather was a clicker for 50 years with same company, cant think of any job u could do that these days!

Virusman26 · Mar 24, 2008

Not really sure to be honest. There seems to be a real lack of historical records in this area, even though it's a huge part of the city's history. Most of the buildings around here are circa 1860's ish, but this looks a little later. Maybe turn of the century. The brick work looks older than C20th, so I may be wrong.

The most recent thing I can find about the building is about a company called"Ashton & Moore Limited" requesting planning to have"Installation of plant and equipment with
new discharge flues through the roof"
That was in 2006

MD · Mar 24, 2008

cant remember which factory it was it was in the middle of kettering down a side street.surrounded by houses!!

cheers for the reply Virusman

i like old brick buildings we went to see the gwr shed in nottingham couple of weeks back nothing there but it was well built

smileysal · Mar 24, 2008

like this building a lot, was looking at it when we did the walker and woodward factory site last october. Looks very similar in style to that one, especially with the courtyard bit behind the factory.

Good pics VM,

Cheers,

Sal

chad316 · Mar 25, 2008

That place is called Taunton & Hatton Safe Makers and upstairs was Carolines Jewellery Ltd. Great place, glad you went in too.. i see my blue barrel that i stood up is still there ha!

King Al · Mar 25, 2008

Nice Pics VM, like the metal stairs and the dodgey looking wooden ones

borntobemild · Mar 25, 2008

Great pics - particularly like the courtyard ones and no 4 - the wooden door.
Brought back memories.
Looks very much like my gran's old outside sh*thouse.

Virusman26 · Mar 25, 2008

chad316 said:
That place is called Taunton & Hatton Safe Makers and upstairs was Carolines Jewellery Ltd. Great place, glad you went in too.. i see my blue barrel that i stood up is still there ha!

Taunton were another company who used part of the sapce at some time in here. At it's height, there seems to have been about 9 different companies. Progressive Engineering seem to have been most dominant, with a lovely cast plaque above the door, which I'll shoot on the next trip

Foxylady · Mar 31, 2008

Fabulous place, VM. Absolutely love these old factories in the Midlands. You can't beat the old original red brick, imo.
Is that another one from the jewellery quarter?

Virusman26 · Mar 31, 2008

King Al said:
Nice Pics VM, like the metal stairs and the dodgey looking wooden ones

Yep, they're my first port of call on my next trip. Safer looking than the wood ones.

Foxylady said:
Fabulous place, VM. Absolutely love these old factories in the Midlands. You can't beat the old original red brick, imo.
Is that another one from the jewellery quarter?

Yep, it's down Legge Lane, a much abandoned section.

diluted · Apr 7, 2008

I thought it was down piss alley

Virusman26 · Apr 7, 2008

diluted said:
I thought it was down piss alley

LOL! IM sent about location!

RAF_Firenat999 · Oct 15, 2008

mattdonut said:
cant remember which factory it was it was in the middle of kettering down a side street.surrounded by houses!!

cheers for the reply Virusman i like old brick buildings we went to see the gwr shed in nottingham couple of weeks back nothing there but it was well built

i do apologise profusely for bumping up an old post!
i was born and raised in Kettering until i was 8, that factory was the Clarkes shoe factory i think, you could see it from the top bedroom of our house in St Mary's road.
If i can remeber rightly it was surrounded by green railings, if i'm wrong then i think it was a cotton mill, very close by there was a cinema (my very first visit to one as a child where i watched snow white on a saturday show, no im not THAT old!)

and a sewing/knitting shop a street corner. it has been some 17 years since!

Progressive Engineering, Birmingham

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